Let's get political...

According to our #55 ranking, Fresno is not as politically involved as some other cities in the United States. In an effort to continue get smarter, I've decided to write about office politics. A lot of information is based on the book Political Savvy, by Joel Delucca (you can find it on my Resources page).

I put an informal poll out to the twittosphere and on facebook asking people how they approach Office/Organizational Politics.

From Twitter:

KarmaKaze7 stay out of it as much as possible, people are sharks. they will try to get you into trouble too.
archop understanding subcultures and the group. And communication please.

mikeoz my advice: get some good headphones.

taptheflow Respect-primordial. Try to get along with everyone and not expose aspects of urself that could compromise u

SonicFoundation keep your pimp hand strong.

grrb absolutely no gossiping, and make it clear that you don't gossip. Treat people you like and detest exactly the same.

archop the worst part of #OfficePolitics is knowing your vote doesn't count.

archop believe it or not we actually have sanctioned popularity contests with prizes and all

From Facebook:

Jason Travis I flick boogars on peope who disagree with me.

Cindy Dunn Cautiously

Beth Bridges Well, to start with, I don't talk about my office politics on Facebook ;-)

Matthew Park Well Travis I am a fan of the up front cards on the table approach. I still believe what my Mom always said honesty is the best policy.

Annise Weaver Pay very close attention to how things flow. Don't ever react without thinking things through. Work closely to your supervisor if you have his/her trust. Note the hierarchy and seniority that is established. I can go on and on forever.

The overwhelming response seems to be either negative or an attitude to avoidance. Over the next few days I will indroduce y'all to nine different political styles. One of the reasons I left the military was because I was tired of "all the politics." I quickly realized that politics are everywhere. Avoiding them is not the healthiest approach, so I found it was best to learn how to identify and work with the various political types.

Activity & Attitude

The key factors in determining a person's political style is their attitude towards organizational politics and their level of political activity (or engagement). Many of the comments from the informal poll indicate a negative attitude and a high degree of avoidance.

Why do you think this is? Have people only seen political engagement in a negative light?

Good news, you are not helpless. As I rollout the various political styles, you will probably identify people in your area of influence. That should stimulate some good conversation here and around the water cooler.